Authorities Search For Missing 3-Year-Old (Photos)

North Carolina authorities are on the hunt for a missing 3-year-old girl who was reportedly taken from her bed early Nov. 27.

Kristy Woods recalls putting her daughter, Mariah Woods, to bed the night before at their home in Jacksonville. Her live-in boyfriend saw the girl leave her bed an hour later, WNCT reports.

But the child soon went back to sleep. When the couple awoke in the morning, she was nowhere to be found.

There was no sign of forced entry, but the back door was unlocked.

Because Mariah has an orthopedic leg problem, Kristy says it's difficult to imagine she just walked off. She believes Mariah was kidnapped.

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"Please, bring her back ... She's my baby, she's my everything," the mother of three said in an interview. "Just to be able to touch her and hold her and not let her go again. I'd give anything."

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"This is my world, this is my angel," she added, the Daily Mail reports. "She was sent to me for a reason. This is my everything besides my boys, the love that I have for this girl. The bond that I have ... is my life. Please, just don't take that."

Authorities have since issued a statewide Amber Alert for the girl, but are hesitant to call it a kidnapping.

"[We are] working everything that can be worked to find this little girl," said Onslow County Sheriff Hans Miller.

"We don’t know what happened," he added. "It’s entirely premature to try to determine what happened."

Law enforcement officials say they found some items of interest in the woods behind the home, but cannot be certain if it's connected to Mariah.

Mariah is described as a white female with brown hair and blue eyes. She is 2-feet-9 and weighs 30 pounds.

Those with information should call the Onslow County Sheriff's Office at 910-455-3113.

"Every second counts when a child is missing, especially after the cold night we just had," Miller said. "A detailed timeline is crucial in helping us find this little girl."

Experts say time is particularly of the essence in this case given the child's health problems.

"She wouldn’t have her support, her braces and things of that nature," said Tommy Cloyd, an independent living coordinator with the Disability Advocates And Resource Center. "I think after 24 hours, it would kind of start to get to her. I don’t know if she takes medication of any kind, but I am sure by this point, she needs something."